Part+1+-+Initiating+Inquiry

Topic: Initiating Inquiry
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 * The teacher explains how critical readers use inquiry and research to deepen their understanding and develop an evidence-based perspective on a topic. Students are introduced to the purposes, the process, and the materials of the unit. **

Common Core Standards:

 * W4:** Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
 * W7:** Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
 * W8:** Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
 * W9:** Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research
 * R1:** Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
 * R2:** Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. **SL1:** Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Suggested Student Objectives
Students learn the purposes and processes of using inquiry and research to deepen understanding. Students initiate inquiry on a topic through collaboratively generating questions to direct and frame research. By the end of Part 1, students will have chosen an Area of Investigation and developed inquiry questions.

Resource Links
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Activities
**Activity #1: Introduction to the Unit** - Introduce the purpose(s) of the unit: 1) to develop the skills and habits used in conducting independent research to deepen understanding; and 2) to use those skills and habits in developing and communicating an evidence-based perspective on a topic by the end of the research process. and vetting discussion. They will have expressed their area in the form of a problem or overarching question. They now brainstorm more specific questions about their area of investigation that will guide their research.
 * Activity #2: Exploring a Topic - ** The entire class can focus on one topic with each student eventually investigating separate areas of investigation within this topic. The class could also focus on two or three topics. Limiting topics allows students to learn about other aspects of a topic from each other, and allows for deeper class discussions, helping students evaluate their plan, their strategic approach to the inquiry, and their findings. It also allows the teacher to model skills using common texts related to student’s research and a wider curricular context.
 * Activity #3: Conducting Pre-Searches - **Students conduct pre-searches for sources around one or two areas of investigation to validate availability of information. Introduce the process of performing searches using inquiry questions, and the importance of recording the potential sources found. Remind the students that at this stage of research they are looking for general information that will help them gain background knowledge and understanding of their potential areas of investigation. To guide students in the brainstorming process, you might use the following basic inquiry questions:
 * How is it defined?
 * Where did it originate?
 * What is its history?
 * What are its major aspects?
 * What are its causes and implications?
 * What other things is it connected to or associated with?
 * What are its important places, things, people, and experts?
 * Activity #4: Vetting Areas of Investigation ** - Students vet their potential areas of investigation and develop a research question or problem.
 * Activity #5: Generating Inquiry Questions -** Students generate Inquiry Questions to guide their searches for information regarding their areas of investigation. Students should now have decided on an area of investigation based on their exploration, pre-searches,

Assessments
// (See Resource Links) //
 * Exploring a Topic Tool
 * Potential Sources Tool
 * Area Evaluation Checklist
 * Inquiry Questions
 * The Research Criteria Matrix
 * The Text-Centered Discussion Checklist